Venture funding in the Bay Area fell off the proverbial cliff in the first quarter of 2009, dropping 43 percent compared with the quarter before, the largest quarter-to-quarter drop in at least 15 years. Year over year, findings were down 61 percent, the worst annual drop since 2001.

Among the hardest hit were companies in the recently high-flying energy sector, which saw new investments fall to $22 million, down 95 percent from both the quarter and year before. Funding in media-and-entertainment companies was down 57 percent from the quarter before and 64 percent year over year.

By comparison, biotech and medical-related companies were less battered as their aggregate funding fell to about $350 million, down 24 percent from the quarter before and off 40 percent year over year.

While there were fewer total findings, the average size of each fell to $6.7 million, the smallest amount since 1998.

Here is a listing of many of the Bay Area firms that received venture capital financing from Jan. 1 to March 31, 2009. Most of the data was compiled from a survey conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers, Thomson Venture Economics and the National Venture Capital Association in conjunction with the Mercury News. Contact Jack Davis, data analyst, at jdavis@mercurynews.com.

In the case of some investments there may have been other participants in the round who are not credited. Also, the amounts listed may not include all venture funding the company received during the quarter.

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¹-Indicates this is a seed or first-round infusion of money from venture capitalists. These companies may have received money previously from other investors and aren't necessarily startups.